On Sunday, a mass grave containing the bodies of 15 first responders was unearthed in Gaza. Sky News investigates the events surrounding their final moments.

The group had gone missing during a rescue mission a week earlier.

An ambulance from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was on a rescue mission in the early hours of 23 March when it requested assistance, claiming it was under attack by Israeli forces.

Three further ambulances and a team from Civil Defence responded, but communication was lost with the group.

Satellite imagery from 26 March, three days after they vanished, shows tyre tracks and military vehicle-induced ground disturbances in the area.

The IDF claimed that the ambulances were targeted because they lacked coordination with military operations and had their lights and emergency signals off.

However, Mohammed Abu Mosahba, the director of ambulance and emergency services at PRCS, clarified that coordination was not necessary as they were not in an evacuation zone.

“The first ambulance ventured into the area without coordination since it was deemed a safe zone, requiring no such measure,” Abu Mosahba stated.

The map below illustrates the attack’s location, marked in yellow. In red are the evacuation zones the IDF designated beforehand; orange represents a new evacuation notice issued on the same day, including the attack’s location.

This evacuation order was first communicated online by the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson at 8:31 AM on that day, about four hours after the incident began, and just under an hour after PRCS first publicly announced the loss of contact with the crew.

Abu Mosahba stated that after the initial ambulance was attacked, PRCS requested coordination for the remaining three ambulances.

Dr Mohammed Al Mughir, director of logistics at Civil Defence, also stated that coordination was not necessary until the evacuation order was issued, which, he claimed, was “over three hours after our colleagues were killed”.

He further disputed the IDF’s claim about the vehicles having their emergency features off.

“All vehicles had visible signals, reflective markings, clearly indicating them as emergency vehicles,” he affirmed.

The lights from one of the ambulances were discovered on top of the mass grave, pinpointing its location.

Alongside the bodies, all four ambulances, a fire engine, and a UN vehicle were partially buried.

A military weapons expert told Sky News that at least one of the vehicles was “certainly crushed”.

When Sky News asked the IDF why the vehicles were crushed and the bodies buried, it said the incident was under investigation.

In UN footage, workers can be seen extracting dead bodies from sand piles and placing them in white bags for transfer to the mortuary.

Attacks on aid workers are growing more frequent

The discovery of the mass grave comes as aid organizations reevaluate their presence in Gaza, facing a recent surge in attacks.

At least 29 aid workers were killed or injured in the two weeks leading up to 27 March, marking the highest casualty rate in almost a year.

According to NGO Humanitarian Outcomes, which provides data on aid worker security to humanitarian agencies and governments, at least 336 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began. This figure does not include casualties from public-sector organizations like Civil Defence.

Meriah-Jo Breckenridge, a research analyst at Humanitarian Outcomes, comments on a definite increase in attacks on aid workers following the breakdown of the ceasefire on 18 March.

On 19 March, a UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) guesthouse was attacked, resulting in the death of a Bulgarian staff member and injuries to six other international workers.

Below is an image showing the damage sustained by the building, featuring a significant hole in one wall.

The UN claims the building was hit by an Israeli tank, a claim denied by the Israeli government.

UNOPS chief Jorge Moreira da Silva stated that Israel was aware of the building’s location and its occupants.

“This was not an accident,” he declared.

This attack followed an airstrike on a nearby residential building that killed an employee of medical charity, Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF).

“It’s impossible for us to operate in such conditions, when we put everyone at risk in an environment where de-confliction is no longer effective,” said MSF’s head of mission, Amanda Bazerolle.

Deconfliction refers to the practice of aid organizations in Gaza voluntarily informing the IDF of their locations to avoid accidental targeting.

Tom Fletcher, under-secretary general for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), noted that agencies can no longer successfully collaborate with Israel to protect their staff.

“It didn’t always happen in the past, and certainly doesn’t now,” Mr. Fletcher told Sky News.

On 24 March, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Rafah was hit.

Footage taken immediately after shows smoke billowing from the building, which displayed a Red Cross flag clearly on its roof.

The aid group mentioned that the structure sustained damage from an explosive projectile, without any casualties.

The IDF admitted to the incident, stating it mistakenly identified a threat and that the building’s ownership was unknown to them at the time.

“Essentially, there isn’t a single international aid organization site, guest house, office, or distribution point in Gaza that hasn’t submitted GPS coordinates to the IDF for probably the past year,” said a senior aid worker who recently left Gaza.

“All movements are deconflicted and submitted for approval.”

On 25 March, the UN announced the “difficult decision” to withdraw about a third of its international staff from Gaza.

Olga Cherevko, a Gaza-based OCHA spokesperson, explained that this decision was partly due to the UN’s limited ability to deliver aid, owing to a weeks-long Israeli blockade, but also “the lack of protection from Israeli authorities, given the continued attacks against humanitarian workers.”

Director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, Amjad Shawa, criticized the UN’s decision. “It’s not just about delivering and distributing aid – they are our international protection and witnesses,” he argued.

“It’s crucial for them to remain here.”

Olive Enokido-Lineham, OSINT producer, contributed reporting.